


Dusk Till Dawn

by somepeoplearewild



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Death, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Gangs, Genderswap, Sex, Social taboos out the wahoo, Trigger warning added to each chapter so no spoilers here, Violence, Workplace Rivalry, girl!Liam - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 12:43:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12748560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somepeoplearewild/pseuds/somepeoplearewild
Summary: Liam and Zayn keep it strictly professional. Until they can’t.





	1. O N E

**Author's Note:**

> This story is somewhat of an experiment for me meant to test the limits of my writing abilities. 
> 
> It's going to get **VERY** dark at times and deal with social taboos. Like scary shit. Pretty much the only triggers I can assure you aren't in this are self harm and eating disorders. Everything else (and I mean everything) is fair game. You've been warned. 
> 
> The first bit will be fine, but this is not for sensitive readers. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Do not ignore the trigger warnings.**

_☼《❝Liking what I see girl_  
Trying not to let it show  
Lemme see your brains up  
You gotta let them know ❞ 》☾

The day starts beautifully. A lovely cab ride due to a flat tire. Screaming in public because a bee flies at her hair. And most recently, knocking the entire cup of paper clips off her desk.

Liam freezes as she hears the door to her office open, then the door to the wood panel partition. “Your partner is one of our best.” Fuck, _fuck_. Today is the day Rick’s replacement arrives. “Payne?” Martin’s voice booms through the room, having assumed Liam’s fucked off somewhere rather than doing her work.

Liam backs out from under her desk, slowly emerging so that only her wide brown eyes peek over the surface. She makes eye contact with her boss first, then her vision shifts over to the new guy. She tries as hard as she can to repress her scowl, but it evidently shows by the amused look on Zayn’s face.

Liam can’t fucking believe what she’s seeing. She’d been under the impression that moving away after sixth form would mean she wouldn’t have to see the stupid fucking faces of any of those kids ever again. Up until this point, it’d been working.

Liam pulls herself the rest of the way off the floor, dusting off her knees. She doesn’t exactly appreciate the way Martin leers at her as if he’s had a similar fantasy before. Liam knows he’s attracted to her. That’s how she got the job. So what if she had to grow her golden brown hair to her waist and leave the top couple buttons of her blouse undone? It’s a small price to pay for employment when everyone in the city is clawing each other’s eyes out for work. Liam would go mad without something to do during the day.

“Malik,” the girl greets curtly, pouty red lips uttering his name as if she’s known him for millions of years. Zayn can’t help but let his eyes wander down her body. It should be impossible for someone to look as good as she does with her tits popping out of her frilly white blouse, black pencil skirt and belt cinched around her waist accenting her hips and thighs. Her legs alone almost do him in, and he’s only able to see her toned calves that benefit from her strappy black stilettos. Her toes are painted the same velvety red as her lips, and Zayn’s never been into feet before, but he would gladly touch hers.

“Do I know you?” Zayn asks with a smirk, trying to flirt as discreetly as possible.

Liam doesn’t think it’s very discreet, though, as he stares at her feet like a _freak_. “Zayn,” she says blankly, catching his attention immediately.

Fuck, maybe he does know her. His eyes travel all over her face, squinting as he tries to place a name to it. It’s only when his eyes reach her neck that something catches his eye. He’s only ever known one person with a birthmark there, and it most definitely can’t be this bombshell in front of him.

“Liam?”

Liam just raises her carefully groomed eyebrows as if to say ‘yeah you fucking idiot’.

“Holy-” Zayn stutters remembering his boss in the room because he’s at work and it’s his first day and he can’t afford to screw up. “-wow. You’ve changed.”

“Not really,” Liam shrugs.

“Do you two know each other?”

“Yeah,” Zayn answers before she can. “We practically grew up together.” And Liam wouldn’t exactly put it like _that_. Yes, they lived in the same town and went to all the same schools, but they didn’t do anything ‘together’. In fact, she could say he did the opposite, avoiding her at all costs as did everyone because she was the freak who had a mental breakdown in year 7 and buzzed all her hair off a la Britney Spears. And also the silly little thing with her being angry all the time. Liam’s temper got her in trouble a lot, and nobody wanted a friend who was smiling at you one minute and screaming at you the next. Zayn was no exception. As much as he liked to believe he was cool and different, he really wasn’t. He mostly just smoked weed and listened to Ray J. Mostly.

“High school sweethearts?” Martin jokes, although Liam can clearly tell he’s probing for information through their reactions. Old fuck hasn’t worked up the nerve to just ask Liam on a date so every few months he fires her partners for reasons he won’t tell her. Liam thinks it’s because he’s afraid she’ll get attached to them romantically. How pathetic. Doesn’t he know that no one’s good enough for her? Including him.

Liam snorts at this, taking a seat in her soft desk chair. “Hilarious As always, Mr. Smith.” He’s invited her to call him Martin several times, but sometimes she just likes to call him mister because it gets him all worked up for some unholy reason.

“Well,” the man coughs, pulling on the top of his pants and his belt as if Liam doesn’t know he’s trying to readjust his swelling cock to a less noticeable position. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. Work on getting that server back up.”

The second the door closes, Liam turns back to her middle computer screen, typing in a line of code.

“Ahem,” Zayn says, and it’s somehow the most annoying thing he could have possibly said. Only highfalutin pricks ask for someone’s attention by saying ‘ahem’. Liam only spares him a glance, raising her eyebrows to tell him to continue.

“It’s been a while.”

Liam briefly thinks of that one Staind song, shooing it out of her head before it can get stuck. “Only four years.”

“Apparently a lot can change in four years.”

“For some people,” Liam quips, eyes flickering over the same shaved on the sides, long on the top haircut Zayn’s always had since he had a say in the matter. He’s not wearing his earrings, but she can still see his tattoos spilling over his wrists onto his hands where they’re settled on the armrests of her visitor’s chair. He’s just a lankier, gaunter version of what he was in high school. The noticeable change in weight leaves his cheekbones sharper than ever, amber eyes sunken in. He looks sick, but even that doesn’t seem to put a damper on his sex appeal. Maybe if he hadn’t cocked up back in the day, she could cross getting fucked over her desk off her bucket list.

“Don’t tell me you’re still holding a grudge against me.”

Liam rolls her eyes, pushing her keyboard away from her as she leans back in her chair. “Don’t be so conceited. We’re adults now.” Kind of. “I’d just rather keep this professional. No need to reminisce.”

“Yeah, okay,” Zayn agrees, with this _tone_  to his voice like he doesn’t really believe their professionalism is going to last long. Which it won’t if he crosses her.

“Yeah, okay,” Liam retorts firmly.

“Okay then.”

“Okay.”

Liam waits for him to leave, trying to ignore the way he stares at her as she continues to type. When he doesn’t go away, she turns to him. “Your agenda is on your desk. I was kind enough to do a write-up for you. It tells you everything you need to know for today.” This time he just smirks and thanks her before moving to his side of the partition. Douche.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I posted this on wattpad earlier and I died a little having to censor it. I’m a lil afraid too bc I feel like my whole ass account is going to get deleted after I get into the second and third acts of the story. 
> 
> Anyway, consistent feedback motivates me to update faster. I won’t update if I feel like it doesn’t have an audience.


	2. T W O

_☼《❝When the zeros line up_

_On the twenty-four hour clock_

_When you know who’s calling_

_Even though the # is blocked❞》☾_

 

Working with Zayn is fucking awful. All he does is slow her down. He’s constantly asking questions and when he’s not, he’s telling her he’s heading off for smoke breaks. He must smoke six times a day. And that’s only that she knows of.

Liam would say she has no idea why, but being in such close proximity to him she’s picked up on how skittish he can be. Not with her of course. He loves to terrorise her, but with other people. Men in particular. It’s not like he’s scared or anything, but he has a major inferiority complex. His complex doesn’t manifest in aggression but rather submission, so he avoids eye contact and does as told. Lucky for him, he rarely has to correspond face-to-face with anyone other than Liam and Mr. Smith, occasionally. So he just smokes the anxiety away.

“Zayn, did you finish analysing the user reports?”

When Liam doesn’t get an answer, she angrily pokes her head around the partition, growling to herself when her partner is nowhere to be seen. Poorly for him, she knows exactly where he is, marching herself to the lift.

She presses the button for the top floor, white stiletto tapping angrily on the tile as it carries her upwards. Once she gets off the elevator, she sucks up any disdain for the two flights of stairs required to get to the roof. He better be glad she’s not in the mood to murder as she has to make the ascent in four inch heels. She violently shoves open the door, it banging against the outer wall with a loud crash.

Zayn jumps, visibly shaken, before he notices it’s her and relaxes. “What’s that all about?”

The wind whips through her perfectly combed hair, the almost wet air heavy on her skin.

“Zayn, we have work to do. I’m not keen on staying after work tonight to catch up. I have plans.”

“A date?” Zayn teases, clearly not understanding the willpower it takes for Liam not to strangle him. She’s usually very calm and collected nowadays, but something about Zayn brings out the worst in her. Well, not so much the _worst_ , but he certainly isn’t doing himself any favours by being an obstinate prick when Liam already has a negative predisposition toward his presence.

“None of your business,” Liam replies. “However, the four hundred user reports about crashes that need to be analysed along with two hundred reports of hacking _are_  your business, so pick whichever you want and get it done.”

“Chill, Li. It’ll get done.”

“My name is Liam,” is all she replies before slamming the door behind herself.

Luckily, Zayn isn’t five minutes behind her, settling at his desk. Liam’s eye twitches when he starts to hum, but she forces her annoyance down. At least he’s working.

••••

“I’m headed out,” Liam informs him as she scoots past his chair with her bag and umbrella.

He doesn’t look up from the screen, just chuckles. “Have fun on your date.”

“I’m seeing my father.”

“Have fun on your date,” he repeats, this time as a joke.

Liam feels a twinge somewhere inside her at his stupid joke, but she refuses to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

Dinner is nice. Her father knows what she likes and gives her what she wants so by the time she retires to her childhood room she’s well-fed and exhausted. She isn’t willing to make an hour and a half trek back to her apartment at this time of night anyway. Driving through the woods at night is dangerous.

Liam has just closed her eyes when she hears a buzz from her nightstand. She would let it go to voicemail, but that’s not the kind of person she is so she answers it with her eyes still closed.

“Payne.”

“Liam, I have a problem.”

Liam loudly groans into the receiver, hoping it conveys how thoroughly over him she is.

“Don’t be like that.”

“I was almost asleep, you prick,” Liam grumbles into the phone, sleepy tongue lacking her usual filter.

“I emailed you,” he says, not acknowledging her rude language, yet she can still hear the amusement in his voice.

“ _Whyyyy_ ,” Liam whines like a toddler, throwing a bit of a fit as she crawls out of her huge, plush bed. Zayn literally ruins everything. She slaps her work laptop on her old desk, the fan whirring gently as it comes to life.

“Someone’s having a bit of a moment,” Zayn snickers down the line, and Liam can just envision the way he pokes his tongue out between his teeth as he gives a stifled, impish laugh. “Are you on your–“

“Finish that sentence, and I’ll break your arm on Monday.”

“Is that a threat? Do I need to go to HR?” he teases.

“You need to go to hell.”

Liam’s eyes skim over the email, trying to make sense of the issue with the chunk of code he claims isn’t working to resolve one of the crash issues.

“Feisty. I should call you this late more often. You have an actual personality.”

Liam doesn’t respond, copying and pasting the text into her computer program that makes it easier to read.

“So you were sleeping?” Zayn probes, just being annoying at this point. “I can just see you in teddy bear pyjamas and bunny slippers.”

 “I sleep naked,” Liam retorts just to throw him for a loop. She absolutely does _not_  sleep naked. She’s got this irrational fear something will get caught in her vagina.

Zayn audibly stutters, treading lightly as he asks his next question. “Are you.... naked.... right now?”

“Yep,” Liam replies, finally spotting where he was missing part of the code. It looks like he tried to copy and paste everything together haphazardly.

“Oh.”

“I’m fucking with you,” Liam says after a second. She can’t help the little smirk that appears on her face as she can hear the breath of air he lets out.

“Well played, Liam. Well played. Also please refrain from using that language as I am a man of god–“

She doesn’t wait for a reply, hanging up on him before she shoots him the email. She doesn’t sleep naked. Just in her panties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went ahead and posted the second chapter bc I’m excited. I really am laughing bc of the way this is starting out like a romcom and I’m about to emotionally scar myself writing the rest


	3. T H R E E

☼《❝ _Pulled up_  
_Looking picture perfect baby_  
_High price_  
_But I'm worth it baby_ ❞ 》☾

 

A low whistle sounds in front of her as she closes the boot of her car on Monday. Liam’s head whips up finding Zayn and one of their other coworkers Missy making their way toward them. Zayn as always has a cigarette hanging from his lips, a crisp white button up and khakis as his attire for the day.

 

Missy is one of the secretaries, another one of the many women Martin surrounds himself with simply because of their looks. Liam means no offence to this girl, but when it comes down to it, Martin isn’t nearly as invested in Missy as he is Liam. She’s cute. Very slender, wispy figure. Wide blue eyes. But she lacks confidence and poise, walking with her shoulders cowered inward and her eyes down.

 

Liam likes to think she herself commands attention. Shoulders back, chest out, walk with your hips. These are all things she’s been told by the models she’s come to know. This is professional advice that has yet to fail her. She hasn’t bought her own drinks in two years.

 

“How on earth did you get your hands on this beauty?”

 

She shrugs. “It was a present.”

 

“Liam,” Zayn says with an incredulous look. “This is a three million pound car.”

 

Missy gasps at this fact, which even Liam wasn’t aware of until today. She knew it was guard with her life expensive but not _that_  expensive. She was thinking half a mil maybe. Someone must really love her, she thinks smugly to herself.

 

“Damn, that’s crazy,” Liam replies boredly.

 

“Do you have a sugar daddy or something? Are you engaged to a Saudi millionaire? I need a Saudi millionaire,” Missy sighs all in one breath.

 

“You don’t want a Saudi millionaire,” Liam scoffs, walking with them down the stairs. The top level of the parking garage is only accessible by keycard, which Zayn’s presence is explained by Missy who drives a cute red Porsche. Liam would give a fuck about what they were doing together, but she doesn’t really care what he does with his life outside of the office.

 

“Know a lot of Saudi millionaires?” Zayn jokes, eyes widening when Liam replies “a few”.

 

She really does, and they’re not that pleasant to be around. They’re fun for a gathering, but she’d commit if she had to live with one. Millionaires are a pain in the ass.

 

“ _What_  have you been getting up to since sixth form, Liam Payne?”

 

“For all you know, I was doing this _in_  sixth form. Just nobody cared to notice.”

 

Zayn grimaces at her comment, a guilty look on his face that’s wiped away by Missy’s snort. He should feel guilty. He should feel shame.

 

“In sixth form, I was waiting for George Cole to notice my haircut. You guys have such interesting lives.”

 

“Yeah, well. We’re risk takers,” Zayn smirks at Missy as Liam follows them into the elevator. The ashy blonde girl blushes at that, pushing her glasses farther up her nose. Liam wants to laugh, but she holds her pokerface. Going after nerdy girls with low self esteem is such a {Zayn} thing to do. Blondes are such a Zayn thing to do. Blondes who are a good four inches taller than him is such a Zayn thing to do.

 

Liam can’t help the snicker that escapes at that thought as she imagines him looking up into her eyes before pulling up a stool to kiss her.

 

“What’s funny?” Zayn asks from behind her, and she can’t see his face but she knows he’s a little miffed that she ruined their moment.

 

“Ican’ttellyou,” Liam wheezes as a full laugh bubbles out of her throat. Liam knows she’s mean sometimes, but honestly it’s better than being the vulnerable little bitch she used to be.

 

“Aw, I wanna know,” Missy pouts, Liam turning around to her just as the doors open on the ground level. She waves Missy in, since they’re close as far as work friends go, using her hand to block Zayn from reading her lips as she whispers the stool comment in her ear.

 

Missy barks out a laugh then, sparing Zayn a glance before laughing harder.

 

“Oh come on. This is bullying,” Zayn says, trying to hide the fact that he’s actually becoming irate. Liam knows him better than to fall for the tight smile he puts on.

 

“It’s just a bit of girl talk,” Missy giggles as they all step out.

 

“Tampons n all that,” Liam adds.

 

“Tell me then. I know plenty about tampons.” Liam and Missy burst into another fit of laughter at this. Zayn realises his mistake, backtracking quickly. “I have three sisters,” he adds.

 

“Aw, really,” Missy swoons suddenly causing Liam to roll her eyes and walk a little faster than them. He does have three sisters, and the last time Liam saw them they were crowded around him crying in the school gym after graduation. All Liam knows is that he’d moved far away for uni.

 

Zayn takes a couple minutes to join her in their office, shortly followed by Martin who walks right past Zayn and hands a stack of files to Liam.

 

“I’ve got a special assignment for you two. You get to head to the Hull division and train a new employee,” he says to her.

 

“And me?”

 

The man tears his eyes away from the top of Liam’s emerald blouse long enough to grunt, “You observe,” at him.

 

Liam can’t help but snicker to herself as the man leaves. She’s in a rather good mood this morning. She just found out she drives a three million pound car.

 

“Why doesn’t he trust me? I guess all I am to him is a pretty face,” Zayn adds, and his implied little jab doesn’t go unnoticed.

 

“He doesn’t trust you because you come to work in slacks and Air Maxes.”

 

Zayn shuffles his feet around with a slightly embarrassed face as Liam carefully puts the files in her bag and grabs her keys again. “We’re going in my car.”

 

“Is it bad that I’m a little scared to even touch your car?” Zayn half jokes as he turns the light off behind them.

 

“I can always put you in the trunk if that would make you more comfortable.”

 

When they finally get back to her car, she realises maybe Zayn was joking a little less than she thought. He kind of lingers by the tail end, eyes bugging when Liam pushes the button and the suicide doors open backwards.

 

“This is the sexiest car I’ve ever seen. What’s her name?”

 

“Sugar,” Liam answers honestly. She saw the white colour of her car, and it was either that or ‘Cocaine’.

 

He finally settles into the black seats, eyes hungrily taking in the sight of the interior. Liam gets in and starts her car, and now that she sees the look in his eyes at her car, maybe it isn’t the best idea to take it after all. Where would she even park a car with diamond and sapphire encrusted headlights? On the curb by a parking metre?

 

Liam scoffs at the idea as she starts the car, pulling out of her two spaces before carefully exiting the garage. She would ask to go in his car, but he bikes to work. She’ll just have to make a quick trip home. Luckily, her car goes fast.

 

By the time they make it to a private garage under a swanky looking apartment building, Zayn is clutching the door and seat with white knuckles. Liam drives like a maniac. Like someone who truly does not give a singular fuck about death. His legs feel like jello as he scrambles out of car.

 

“Are you trying to kill us?!” he gasps, actually light-headed from holding his breath the entire eight minute drive. An eight minute drive that should have taken twenty minutes at the _least_.

 

“No?” Liam shrugs, retrieving her bag before sauntering over to a cute, black Audi TT. He vaguely remembers this being her car in sixth form. “Come on, we haven’t got all day. Get in. We’ve an hour and thirty minute drive ahead.”

 

Zayn pales. “But Hull is two and a half hours away,” he whimpers pathetically, getting into her car nonetheless.

 

Through his peripheral vision he can see the evil smile spread across her plump red lips. Oh no.

 

••••

 

Liam turns up the radio about halfway there. It’s some news station blathering on about rising frequency in gang related activity, and for some reason she’s interested in it. One of the show guests makes a statement about how law enforcement is cracking down on the issue and Liam scoffs to herself with a small smile.

 

“Don’t have faith in the police?”

 

“Not when half the police _are_  in the gangs.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

Liam takes her eyes off the road for a moment, giving Zayn a curious smile. “Curiosity killed the cat, Zayn. Why do you want to know?”

 

“Because... I mean, I don’t exactly live in the best part of town. Need to know if I should buy pepper spray and a heavy purse.”

 

Liam scoffs, pushing her too-long hair off her shoulder. “You should buy a Glock and a Kevlar vest.”

 

“Again, how do you know?”

 

“I would tell you, but I’d have to kill you.” Liam knows Zayn is smart, knows he can sense the underlying seriousness of her words under her joking tone. And it’s not a lie. She would literally have to kill him. Or get somebody else to kill him.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not through with this bitch. I’ve scarred myself writing some other shit for it
> 
> Anyway the next chapter is ready spaghetti so like tell me if y’all want it


End file.
